Saturday, April 28, 2018

Avengers: Infinity War

Year: 2018
Directors: Anthony & Joe Russo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Chadwick Boseman, Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo, Sebastian Stan, Dave Bautista, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Karen Gillan, Josh Brolin


Plot: The Avengers, the Guardians Of The Galaxy and Wakanda's finest join forces to stop Thanos, who is on a quest to collect all six Infinity Stones which will allow him to destroy half the universe.


Review: Ten years and eighteen films have all boiled down to this: a movie with an all star cast and nearly every superhero in the MCU involved. To call this an epic would be an understatement. Indeed, Avengers: Infinity War is the epic of epics.

So how does one consolidate all these heroes in one movie and make sure everyone gets their time to shine? Directors Anthony and Joe Russo, working again with writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, divide the story into separate arcs, with each arc containing a certain number of heroes. All these arcs then converge into one finale, and I have to say, the Russos make it pretty seamless as they move from one arc to another, and because the action is ever present and the story keeps moving along, there is never a dull moment, not one. The 150 minute running time is barely felt, honestly.

But what of the heroes? Will some of them perish? Well, sadly yes. But it is to be expected, since this is a universal level threat, and certain deaths must take place. Thanos, the big baddie, and his children, the Black Order, do a tremendous amount of damage that poor Loki would be envious of. The good news is that the Russos make those deaths mean something, a fact sorely missing from Thor Ragnarok. Another good thing about this film is Thor's sudden penchant for humor kept to a bare minimum (thank you Russos).

Action wise, there is plenty, as mentioned. But unlike say, Michael Bay's last Transformers film, the CGI doesn't overwhelm the senses. Every sequence is fast paced yet clearly shot, even scenes of mass destruction look excellent. The Russos needed to make this film outdo every Marvel film that has come before it and to that end, they have succeeded.

The entire cast is on point, with some of them having more screen time than the rest. I can say that Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man and Zoe Saldana's Gamora have more time than the others, with Benedict Cumberbatch's Dr. Strange, Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch, Paul Bettany's Vision and Chris Pratt's Star-Lord coming in a close second. Chris Evans wins the best entrance award as Steve Rogers (I so wanted to mark out in that moment), but the show stealer would have to be Josh Brolin as Thanos. Thanos is basically someone who wants to solve the problem of overpopulation, but does not care about the value of life, hence the "destruction of the universe" quest. He isn't just a formidable opponent, he actually makes good arguments for his case. Brolin successfully rises above his CGI/motion capture character and gives a performance to be proud of. Oh, there were also a few cameos to behold, some unexpected, and some unwanted (a certain girlfriend of a certain billionaire comes to mind).

Are there any downsides? Well, sorta. A few heroes do get minimal screen time, I won't mention who. Other than that, I honestly can't think of any.

Needless to say, if you've been following the MCU all these years, you'd be crazy not to watch this. It's Marvel's version of Lord Of The Rings, and just like that franchise, there's more to come, as this isn't simply the end of all things, it's also a new beginning. Highly recommended. (9.5/10) 

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Tomb Raider

Year: 2018
Director: Roar Uthaug
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Dominic West, Walton Goggins, Daniel Wu, Kristin Scott Thomas, Nick Frost


Plot: When Lara Croft discovers clues about her father's disappearance seven years ago, she goes on a dangerous expedition that pits her against a secret order who seek to unearth a mystical corpse with lethal powers.


Review: This reboot of Tomb Raider is itself based on the reboot of the video game in 2013, so those of you who know the game would find this very familiar.

In this film, Lara Croft isn't the badass Angelina Jolie made her out to be in the previous two movies. Here, she is a bike courier struggling to make ends meet, having left her inheritance behind after her father Richard disappeared seven years ago. When her father's associate reaches out to her and persuades her to claim her inheritance, she subsequently finds clues on her father's last expedition, leading her to believe he may still be alive. With the help of drunken sailor Lu Ren, she sets off to Yamatai island in Japan, only to run into trouble, in the form of the Order of Trinity, seeking to dig up a tomb her father is trying to keep away from the world.

On a whole, Tomb Raider borrows a lot of cues from the Indiana Jones films, especially Raiders Of The Lost Ark and The Last Crusade. But thanks to the firm direction of Norwegian director Roar Uthaug, it works mostly. Uthaug spends a good amount of time developing Lara's character, a tough young lady who faces a lot of adversity but is never afraid. Speaking of Lara, Alicia Vikander throws in a solid performance and makes her a likable and strong heroine, yet one who is vulnerable at times, unlike the over the top version Jolie was back then.

Uthaug also sets up a handful of action sequences, and while many of them are just so-so, the standout one would be Lara trying to escape a rundown airplane stuck on a waterfall. The sequence where Lara and Lu Ren are on a boat being capsized by strong waves comes a close second.

As for the supporting cast, they're a mixed bag. Dominic West is believable enough as Lara's dad, and while Daniel Wu does a good enough job as Lu Ren, he is little more than Lara's sidekick here. Walton Goggins seems a bit disinterested as Vogel, the film's villain, throwing in a rather standard performance. Kristin Scott Thomas is wasted in the role of Ana, Richard's associate, though I suspect she will show up in the sequel if there is one. Nick Frost nails his minor role as a pawnshop owner though, using his comedic skills well.

Overall, since I can hardly remember the first two Tomb Raider films, I'd say this reboot is quite entertaining. Judging by the way it ended, there's plenty of room for a sequel. Hopefully the next round will be somewhat less derivative of Indy's exploits. (7/10) 

Sunday, April 15, 2018

Rampage

Year: 2018
Director: Brad Peyton
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Jake Lacy, Demetrius Grosse


Plot: A space station carrying out top secret experiments is destroyed, causing a meteor shower that sends three canisters containing lethal pathogens to Earth. The pathogens subsequently infects a gorilla, a wolf and a crocodile, increasing their size and aggressiveness. It's up to the gorilla's handler, a disgraced scientist and a government agent to stop them from destroying Chicago.


Review: I vaguely remember the video game of the same name that Rampage is based on, where players get to destroy buildings using the giant animals. Quite fun. That aside, Rampage is every bit the summer popcorn movie it's being marketed as, though not without its flaws.

These days, when you put Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in a movie, you know it has blockbuster written all over it. Johnson certainly has earned the right to be the most bankable star in Hollywood, with action film Skyscraper coming out later this year and Hobbs & Shaw coming next year. From his time in WWE, he has been a very likable guy and has no problem at all making the transition to movies, and he does seem like he's playing the same guy every time. Here, he's Davis, a former Special Forces soldier turned primatologist, who is best friends with an albino gorilla named George.

When a wolf, a huge ass crocodile and George get infected by the pathogens and turn into rampaging monsters, Davis teams up with Dr Kate Caldwell, who used to work for the company that made the pathogens, and Russell, a shady government agent with a few tricks up his sleeve. With a gorilla and a crocodile on the loose, it's like watching King Kong and Godzilla all over again. But is it fun? Yes it is.

Director Brad Peyton, who directed Johnson in San Andreas and Journey 2 The Mysterious Island, certainly knows how to destroy stuff. Here, he's a lot like Michael Bay, except he doesn't go overboard or throw in unfunny humor. While there is a lot of destruction to behold here, it only really kicks in during the second half, when the beasts arrive in Chicago and start crushing everything. There is a cool sequence featuring the giant wolf and a group of private military contractors going at it in a forest in the first half though.

As mentioned, Johnson is a likable guy and he brings that to the table as Davis. Naomie Harris plays the staple female brainy role as Caldwell, who has her own axe to grind with her former employers. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is basically Negan in a suit, but it works as his Russell character is just the guy Davis needs when the moment requires it. Convenient? Maybe. But it's perfect for him. Malin Akerman is suitable enough as Caldwell's greedy employer, with Jake Lacy equally fitting as her dimwit brother and the movie's defacto clown.

The CGI look good for the most part. But Rampage does suffer occasionally from a lack of focus when Peyton slows the film down so that Davis and Caldwell can exchange their sad pasts, or when the FBI show up to investigate Akerman's company, which feel really extraneous.

Overall, Rampage is a fun popcorn summer movie which ought to keep you entertained before Infinity War arrives. (7/10) 

Monday, April 09, 2018

Ready Player One

Year: 2018
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, Philip Zhao, Win Morisaki, Hannah John-Kamen, Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg, T.J. Miller


Plot: A virtual reality world known as the OASIS is an escape for nearly everyone on the planet in the future. When its creator, James Halliday, dies, he leaves behind hidden easter eggs in the OASIS, which if discovered by any player, will win them a large fortune and control over the OASIS. Wade Watts aka Parzifal, a young man from Columbus and a huge fan of Halliday's, is determined to win the contest, but he will have to go through IOI, a powerful corporation headed by the power hungry Sorrento, who wants the OASIS for himself.


Review: It's perfectly fine if you haven't read Ernest Cline's novel of which this film is based on, you won't need to. Ready Player One is basically a video game like adventure featuring tons of pop culture references over the last several decades. If you're a film nerd or ever been one (and who hasn't, really?), this movie will be a very fun ride.

There are basically two worlds here, the real world and the OASIS. Director Steven Spielberg and writer Zak Penn, co-writing with Cline, deftly balance the movie's time between both worlds. The real world is reminiscent of Robocop's future, filled with slums and lorded upon by a big corporation. The OASIS on the other hand is a limitless universe filled with anything and everything you can think of from the worlds of film, TV, music and video games. You'll get nerdgasms from start to finish.

Without spoiling too much, allow me to name a handful of things you'll see: the Delorean from Back To the Future, King Kong, The Iron Giant, Akira and a certain Kubrick film which is central to one of the quests for the eggs. If you don't blink, you'll catch Freddy, Jason and Robocop in that world too.

Spielberg said that this is one of the hardest films he's ever done, and I can totally understand that. To create the OASIS so believably must have been an enormous task, and to make everyone's avatars look awesome and yet capable of emoting must have been even harder. On top of that, the action sequences are incredibly complex. The opening vehicle race was a superb sequence, which was only topped by the final battle sequence. It's an amazing CGI filled spectacle whenever viewers are taken into the OASIS.

The actors here are basically an ensemble cast, all working in unison to tell the story, and none truly stand out that much more than the other, though Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke do make a good team as Parzifal and Art3mis, while Ben Mendelsohn is a solid villain as Sorrento, even though he's channeling Orson Krennic most of the time. Mark Rylance shines as James Halliday while Simon Pegg does well as Halliday's former partner Morrow, though he doesn't get much screen time.

I'll admit that this film will not appeal to viewers who either don't brush up on pop culture or never played video games at all. If they don't understand what the film's about within the first five minutes after Wade's narration, chances are they won't enjoy it. But I say, give this film a chance. It's so much fun it's irresistible.

To sum it up, Ready Player One is the dream movie of anyone who's ever been a film nerd. (8/10)

A Quiet Place

Year: 2018
Director: John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe


Plot: A family of four try to survive in a world mostly wiped out by alien creatures who hunt by sound.


Review: A Quiet Place has been compared to Don't Breathe as both films share the same hair-raising tension from start to finish. That's pretty much true despite the differing plots of both movies.

John Krasinski directs himself and his spouse Emily Blunt as a couple with two children living in a post-apocalyptic America, a world wiped out by deadly aliens who hunt by sound. The family communicate mostly by sign language and do their best not to make any loud sounds, lest they attract the aliens. It's a strategy that has worked so far, but there is some tension in the family, and with a fifth member about to be born soon, their safety will be sorely tested.

For the most part, Krasinski keeps the story flowing smoothly and the pressure high. The script, by Krasinski, Scott Beck and Bryan Woods involves putting the family in a handful of potentially dangerous situations, usually a quiet scenario that suddenly goes south when an unexpected loud sound occurs (and sometimes expected ones too). It involves a fair bit of jump scares but thankfully, most of them are well earned.

It's important to note that behind the horror element here, there's also a convincing family story to be explored. There is a tragedy at the start of the story, which creates tension between Krasinski and his on screen daughter, played by the excellent Millicent Simmonds. The two actors work very well off one another and deserve plenty of praise. This family element makes the film more than just a simple horror flick.

Krasinski and Blunt, being a real life couple, certainly have an advantage when it comes to portraying parents on screen. While he plays the more pragmatic half, she gets the gentler role, and yet displays a tremendous amount of toughness in the film's third act. Simmonds, who is genuinely deaf in real life, is superb in her role, and Noah Jupe also throws in a solid performance as her brother.

As in most horror flicks, some lapses of logic is bound to occur, and A Quiet Place is no different. Not to worry, there are very few of these occurring here, and not quite enough to spoil your enjoyment overall. The music score is also a bit derivative of Johann Johannsson's work on Sicario, but in hindsight it fits the film well.

In conclusion, A Quiet Place is a great horror thriller for you to check out. (8/10) 

Sunday, April 01, 2018

Unsane

Year: 2018
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Claire Foy, Joshua Leonard, Jay Pharoah, Juno Temple, Amy Irving


Plot: A young woman recovering from emotional trauma caused by being stalked, unknowingly gets herself involuntarily checked into a mental hospital. Things get worse when her stalker shows up at the hospital under a new name, working as an orderly.


Review: Unsane is another experimental film by Steven Soderbergh, in this case he filmed the entire movie using an iPhone 7. Because of that, the picture quality does suffer a little as there is a lack of wide exterior shots and the picture seems grainy at times. Honestly the film looks a few notches up from a found footage movie, but at the same time it lends a claustrophobic feel to the tense storyline.

Sawyer Valentini (Claire Foy) is a young woman who still suffers from emotional stress after being stalked for the last two years by David Strine (Joshua Leonard). She meets a counselor at a mental hospital for a session, but unwittingly signs documents that allows them to check her in against her will. She tries to get herself out, but fails. And then David appears in the hospital as an orderly, compounding the trouble she is now in. So what is happening exactly? Is she really crazy, or a victim in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Thankfully, Soderbergh doesn't pull one of those "is it all in her mind only" kind of situations and establishes promptly what Sawyer and the audience are up against at the end of the first half. There is of course a reasonable explanation as to how she winds up in this situation, but I won't spoil it for you. Needless to say, we can totally relate to Sawyer as someone who has been screwed and desperately needs to escape, but it's impossible when nearly everyone thinks she's crazy.

However, Soderbergh unwisely sets aside the "trapped in a mental hospital" plot and pushes forward the stalker plot in the third act, thereby switching Unsane from a psychological horror thriller to a Misery style horror flick. The last part of the film has a heavy Misery feel to it, right down to the final scene. Not that the stalker plot is a bad thing, but clearly the plot Soderbergh had went with for the first two thirds of the film was stronger.

There are also a few plotholes present, like how David is able to control so many variables at the hospital without any of the other staff knowing, or how the doctors and staff don't even bother to actually treat Sawyer with other methods besides giving her drugs.

On the plus side, Claire Foy turns in a solid performance as Sawyer, perfectly showing fear and paranoia of being caught in a horrible situation. Joshua Leonard (from The Blair Witch Project) is suitably creepy as David the stalker. Amy Irving (from Carrie) also shines as Sawyer's mum who tries to get her daughter out, and also worth mentioning is Jay Pharoah as Nate, a fellow patient who assists Sawyer.

To sum it up, Unsane is a solid horror thriller that deserves checking out, despite a weak third act. (7/10)     

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